Description: Estadio Tecnológico de Oaxaca

There used to be an athletic stadium here, but from 2016 onwards it’s only used for football – the old one was moved to make way for a new central venue of the West Zone Sports Complex (CDZP) of Oaxaca.

For the first time a stadium within the complex has such large stands. Since opening in late March 2016 the building has been able to hold 17,200 people. But should the local team Alebrijes advance to Mexican top flight, the stadium could see increase to 25,000.

But it’s not the location or capacity that stand out. In this stadium’s case it’s the architecture that captivates. Overall shape of the stadium, though compromised, mimics that of nearby ancient ‘Zapotec ball’ stadium in Monte Albán, possibly as old as 2,500 years. The outer form is decorated with bright colourful ropes that might in the future be covered with vegetation to provide more shade and further resemble the nearby historic monument.

Perhaps most notable is the structural composition, because it’s the largest stadium that we know of to be built using precast modules rather than single elements. For example, each of the 72 skyboxes is a single module and the same goes for sections of the stands (5-row sets). As a result, the stadium’s quality may not be the highest, but it also came at an economic budget of MXN 335 million ($19.5m).

Owned by public authorities, lying on land owned by local technical university, the stadium is used by Alebrijes. This, along with corruption accusations and issues with workers welfare, caused some controversy during construction. Which, by the way, was due to end in late 2015, but went onwards to March 2016.